Unbreakable Bound
by Smart Angel
Summary: The first time she saw him he was just a little broken boy ready to face death. She was chained to the wall, not willing to accept this fate without a fight. The bound they created that day was strong, but not nearly as strong as the one they created now.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I

_"How about we make a deal then?" asked a young girl`s voice._

_ "Deal?" asked the voice of a little boy this time._

_ "Yes, a deal." She said, and you could almost hear her smirk. "I'll use what is left of my powers to free you and your two friends, but then you have to help me with something."_

_ "Help you with what?"_

_ A small laugh, far from innocent, was heard, before everything faded into darkness._

Anna was looking out at the bright blue sky with bored eyes. She had absolutely nothing to do but wait until this stupid human ceremony was over. She loved watching the clash between the Pailongs and the Tao Clan. It was such an odd combination. Lee Pailong made his fortune with Kung Fu movies, and westernizing his life style as much as possible. Tao Jun was one of the only two Tao survivors, a traditional Chinese Shaman Clan, and lived her entire life based on tradition and the spiritual world. The two couldn't come from more different backgrounds, yet somehow, they feel in love and were getting married.

That did not mean their families were happy. The Tao Clan consisted only of Jun and her little brother, Ren. Needless to say, the young Chinese man was very unhappy with his sister's fiancée. She was, according to him, betraying their people. A shaman should marry a shaman, that's what he said. For her to marry a human, with the way humans treated them, it was… it was despicable! Unthinkable! And if that wasn't enough, Lee Pailong tried to hide from his family the fact that his future wife was a shaman for as long as possible! A disgrace! That was what Tao Ren thought.

And the Pailongs thought the same thing of Jun and Ren. While years ago shamans would be regarded with great respect, in these days it was almost a social crime to be seen with one. And their son, a great movie star, was _marrying_ one! What a disgrace.

But that didn't stop the two lovers. They were getting married and their dear families just had to deal with. It took some time, but they finally agree with it. Of course, that didn't meant they stopped fighting. Ren wanted his sister to have a traditional Chinese Wedding, and the Pailongs wanted a modern western wedding. Somehow they found a wedding planner who combined the two ideas, to find something in between.

And it was because of that stupid wedding planner that Anna was stuck in that room, with a dress that was supposed to be a mixture of traditional Chinese dresses and Modern Western gowns, but looked like neither of those things. Because of all this stupid mess she had to sit there and wait until the ceremony, with nothing to do. Anna secretly hoped that Ren would enter in a fight with one of the Pailong family members, so she would be entertained. She loved watching them fight.

But luck was not on her side. Ren also had to wait in this stupid closed room, along with his best and only friend, Asakura Yoh. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"You look fine, Ren." Yoh said smiling. "Really!"

"I look stupid, Yoh." Ren answered, frowning.

"You do not." Yoh said.

"Yes, he does." Anna said smirking.

"Anna, don't say that." Yoh frowned, giving Anna a disapproving glance over his shoulder "It's not nice."

"My kind is not supposed to be nice."

"And they are not supposed to be honest either, right?" Yoh smiled, and turned again to Ren. "Come on, Ren, do this for your sister."

"Do this for my sister?" Ren asked, sneering "I would be doing her a favor by killing the bastard she agreed to marry!"

"That's not nice." Yoh said with a frown.

"His specie is not nice, Yoh." Ren said, backing away from his best friend. Oh great, Anna thought. She knew what would come now. "Humans are dirty creatures!" Yep, she was right. He was about to rant "They are disgusting! Look at how they treat us! You are a shaman as well, Yoh! You know how it is to go out there carrying a Shaman Name."

"It's not easy for sure." Yoh agreed.

"Not easy?" he laughed bitterly "Not easy? You were almost stoned to death once, Yoh! Jun was almost assaulted!"

"But she wasn't…" Yoh said, smiling "Thanks to Pailong. He saved your sister Ren, you should be thankful for that."

"I am. But that doesn't mean I want him _marrying_ her!" Anna rolled her eyes. Really, this speech was getting old. "He even tried to hide from his family the fact that Jun is a shaman!"

Anna looked out the window again. Jun was going to pay for locking her inside a room with her temperamental brother. She silently wondered if it would hurt too much to jump from the second window. She despised pain, but it's not like it would kill her.

"It was to protect her." Yoh said. "He didn't want them to treat her badly."

"And she had to hide who she was!" he said, crossing his arms. "Humans are disgusting."

"There was a time when you felt the same way about Anna." Yoh said, gaining Anna's attention. The brown haired shaman walked towards her, and placed his arm around her shoulder, smiling brightly "Now look at you two! You are like best friends!"

"Hardly." Anna said, moving away from Yoh "I wouldn't call us best friends, Yoh."

"Or friends." Ren added.

"But you tolerate each other. That's good!" Yoh says, laughing "Compared to before, when we first started living together, you two couldn't stay in the same room!"

"I only tolerate her because of you Yoh." Ren said.

"You don't mean that." Yoh said, still smiling.

"Yes, I do."

"Well… Then tolerate Pailong for Jun!" he concluded "You can do that, right?"

Ren did not answer, making Yoh smile even more.

Anna just shook her head. Leave it to Yoh to persuade the stubborn Chinese boy. It always worked. When they first met, 8 years ago, Ren tried to kill Anna. He despised her with every fiber of his being, yet because of Yoh he allowed her to live with them. And now they could tolerate each other… It's funny to think how things changed.

"Nii-chan! Nee-chan!" a childish voice coming from the door called. They all looked in the direction and found Redseb, frowning, and behind him was Seyrarm, looking indifferent as always.

"What is it Redseb?" Yoh asked, sitting down.

"I want to change my clothes." He said, crossing his arms.

"Why?" he asked blinking.

"We look like idiots!" and then they stepped in the room. Redseb stepped in, and Ren smirked. Well, at least he wasn't the only one who looked stupid in those clothes. The boy looked like a ventriloquist's doll, with the mini suit making his head look huge, and the messy blonde hair sticking out everywhere. Seyrarm was wearing a miniature version of Anna's dress, and with her long hair and the beads around her head she looked like one of those Victorian porcelain dolls.

"Welcome to the club." Anna says. "None of us are happy with these stupid outfits. Take it with the bride later."

"I will!" the young boy answered, puffing his cheeks. "I can't believe she's making us dress this way!"

"I can't believe she is marrying that idiot!" Ren said.

"And I can't believe you guys can't be happy for Jun." Yoh said, frowning. "Come on guys, she is a big sister to us all! Be happy for her!" then he smiled "Besides, I think Seyrarm looks adorable."

"Of course she does." Anna replied. "Seyrarm is small, young. She will look good in anything."

"Don't be jealous, Anna." Yoh said, getting down on his knees and helping Redseb fix his tie, and then patting Seyrarm on the top of the head. "If you wanted you could look cute and small like Seyrarm."

She sent him a glare.

"I'm like this so things won't be as weird between us, Yoh." She said, and then turned her head to the side "When you started to grow you said it was weird that I was still the same."

"I know." He smiled and then looked at Anna "You always do anything to please me. I'm really thankful Anna."

"She better do anything for you." Ren said "After what she does to your body, and what you promised to do for her, being nice is the least she could do."

Anna just glared at Ren, and then sighed. Really, he was such a troublesome boy. Did she always need to remind him that she never forced Yoh to do anything? He accepted her offer and this is the result. Simple, they were both keeping their side of the agreement.

Time passed, and soon they were all ready for the ceremony. Anna never really understood the point of weddings. What makes two humans vow to spend their lives together? What happens if one of them doesn't keep their end of the bargain? And most importantly, what makes sure they keep such vow?

When she asked Yoh those questions he smiled and answered it with a simple word: Love. Love, he explained, is what makes them want to spend their lives together forever. What they gain of it is the eternal companionship of the partner, and what they give is their undying devotion. What binds them together is something stronger than Shaman spells. Love, he said, is a strong power that can drive humans to do almost anything.

But Anna still couldn't understand. It all sounded stupid in her ears. Her contract with Yoh was much certain. She couldn't back down from it, and neither could Yoh. They were bound by powers stronger than their own, stronger than love, and if any of them tried to betray the other, there would be heavy consequences.

Love…. Such a stupid human concept.

"Nee-chan…" Redseb called, as they waited for the bride, all guests already there. They were mostly the groom's guests since Jun's only friends were the 5 of them. "When can we eat the cake?"

"After this stupid ceremony is over." She answered, shrugging.

"And when will that be?" he asked, impatient.

"I don't know Redseb." She sighed "You have lived a long time already, a few more hours won't seem like much."

"It does when I'm waiting for cake." He said, frowning "I mean, have you seen the size of that thing? It's huge! And it looks so good!"

"You'll just have to wait." She said "Be patient, or else you won't eat cake at all."

"Fine." He said, crossing his arms.

Anna shook her head. Why again did they agree to take care of the two little devils? As if Ren, Yoh and Jun weren't enough of a pain.

She looked around and soon saw Yoh and Ren, not that far away. Yoh was with his arm around Ren, smiling and saying something Anna's sharp ears could barely hear. Probably still trying to cheer up the Chinese boy. She sighed again. It was going to be one boring day.

But, much to her surprise, she was wrong. She was talking with Yoh outside, Redseb and Seyrarm stuffing their faces with cake by their side, and Ren arguing with the Groom's family about some stupid issue that Anna couldn't care less about. Anna was just talking to Yoh about the next step on their plan, when she felt s hiver run up her spine. Redseb, whose hands were full of cake, stopped eating immediately and looked around frenetically. Yoh frowned and also started to survey the area, looking in Ren's direction and noticing he also had sensed.

Jun was the first to run towards them, asking if what she was really feeling a presence of another shaman close by or if it was just her nerves.

"We can feel it too." Yoh said, standing up "He will probably be here at any second."

"Oh no…" Jun said "I hope he won't cause trouble."

It was useless to hope, and Anna knew it. Whoever was coming knew about her and the Munzer siblings. Things were about to get messy, everyone knew it.

"Don't worry about it Jun, I'll handle things." Yoh said, giving her that _trust-me_ smile. "You just continue enjoying your day as if nothing is happening."

"Are you sure Yoh?" She asked "I don't want you to get hurt or…"

"We'll be fine!" he assured her with a laugh "Right Anna?"

She couldn't help but smirk.

"But of course." Standing up she looked at Jun "Everything will be fine."

They didn't wait for her reply. Soon enough the four of them were leaving the place where the ceremony was being held, trying to get as far away from the humans as possible. If there was going to be a fight, it would be best if happened far from those beings. Ren caught up with them eventually, saying he would not let Yoh and Anna fight without him.

"I don't want you to fight, Ren." Yoh said. "Our first priority is to make sure everyone is safe."

"You want me to stand back and watch you risk your life?" Ren said, disgust clear in his voice.

"No. I want you to stay by your sister's side during her wedding day." He frowned "I shouldn't have to tell you that."

"I'll politely refuse your offer Yoh…"

"It wasn't an offer." Yoh interrupted.

"But I'll fight." He continued, ignoring Yoh's comment. "Besides, it's been weeks since I've had a good fight."

"Weeks?" Anna asked, smirking "I never thought I had seen you fighting for real. Seems like you are weaker than I believed."

"Shut up you demon!" he yelled at her, angry.

"Calm down you two!" Yoh said, finally stopping "Ren, if you want to help, then take Redseb and Seyrar somewhere safe." Of course, such request was not received without protest, coming from both boys "Redseb and Seyrarm may be strong, but we don't know how strong this Shaman is. And wanting or not, they are half humans. I don't want them to get hurt. Go hide them somewhere, while Anna and me stay here and wait for him."

"Why don't you do it, Yoh?" Ren asked.

"You know Anna and I can't fight without each other, and if we leave, he will most likely follow Anna's energy, and it will still end up finding Redseb and Seyrarm." Yoh explained "I'm not trying to keep you from fighting Ren. I just want them to be safe."

He hesitated, but after a loud sigh, the purple haired boy finally agreed.

If only he had agreed a few minutes before, then things would have turned out just like Yoh wanted. But luck was not their friend, in fact, Anna was quite sure luck despised them and went out of it's way just to make things harder for them. Ren and the Munzers had not even taken three steps before a blast of snow came in their direction.

"Don't even think about running!" said a voice coming from high above. They looked up and saw a blue haired boy falling from the sky, a snowboard on his feet. "I'm here to do my job and will not leave until they are dead!"

"Well, that's going to be a problem." Yoh said, smiling as the boy finally reached the ground "I don't plan on letting any of them get hurt."

"Are you insane? You are a shaman! You shouldn't be protecting them! It is our duty to destroy every single member of their species!" the blue haired boy yelled.

"That's not a shaman's job, and you know it." Yoh said "We were put on Earth long ago to keep balance and…"

"And everything changed eight years ago!" the boy yelled "We can't afford to let them run free!"

"Redseb and Seyrarm are not hurting anyone." Yoh said, now serious. "You have no right to hurt them."

"And their kind had no right to hurt my sister! Yet that never stopped them!" and without saying another word the boy attacked.

It didn't take long for Anna to react. She was right by Yoh's side in less than a second, and Yoh put his hand forward, closing his eyes. The blast of snow seemed to hit an invisible shield, and flew everywhere. Ren put himself in front of the siblings, and did the same thing as Yoh, only in a smaller scale.

The boy looked shocked, not able to move for a second. Yoh put his arm down and looked straight at him, his voice carrying an authority Anna almost never hears.

"If you want to hurt them, then you'll have to fight us."

The boy nodded with his head.

"Then I'll kill you, and then the two brats you are protecting."

"We'll see." Anna said, smirking. This was going to be fun. Definitely better than the stupid wedding.

The boy ran in their direction, screaming a battle cry while doing so. Anna had to hold back a laugh. Really? A battle cry? Did the boy think they were part of a Shonen Anime or something? How ridiculous.

But Yoh didn't seemed to be as amused. He put himself in a defensive stance and got ready for the hit. Anna closed her eyes and put her hands in prayer, breathing in and out, blocking out every sound around her.

It happened faster than usual. She could now see things like Yoh, and the two were fighting side by side. Yoh's body moved with his own will, blocking every punch the blue haired boy threw at them. He was calm, and after 10 consecutive blocks, Anna finally said the spell words, and Yoh hit the boy with amazing speed and power.

The boy flew about 30 feet and hit a wall. He looked up, eyes wide and gasp escaped his lips as he finally realized what type of shaman he was facing.

"You… You are not normal." He said, and then looked at Anna's body, still frozen in prayer "So that's why you protect them."

Yoh said nothing, only stayed in his stance, waiting for the next attack. It didn't take long for it to come. In a few seconds the boy was already on his feet and screaming another battle cry, this time fury burning in his eyes.

They evaded easily, turning the left feet slightly and then stepping off to the side. They were now behind their opponent, and Yoh reached out, grasping his shoulder and throwing him down. Without missing a beat Yoh's body moved over the boy's, and he held down, two fingers hovering over the boy's face.

Anna said the spell words again, and Yoh's fingers released an energy beam. The boy struggled, and was able to save himself from a possibly critical hit, although the side of his face now had a scratch, blood now running down his cheeks.

"You are good, I'll give you that." He said, smirking.

"Thank you." Yoh said, smiling, panting slightly.

"But your energy gets drained quickly, does it not?" the boy said "Your body is weak." Yoh's smile fell "I may not be strong enough to defeat you, but I can wait until your body gets tired, then I can get to the other two easily."

"If that is the case, then I'll have to win with my next move." Yoh said.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" the boy asked.

"I don't kill people." Yoh said, smiling. "I'm Yoh, by the way."

"Horo-Horo." The boy, now named Horo-Horo, answered.

No other friendly words were said. This time Yoh was the first one to attack, running towards Horo-Horo, no stupid battle cry required. Yoh extended his hand, and Anna started saying the spells. They missed the first few attacks, but then finally they hit his foot, making Horo-Horo fall on the floor.

Yoh ran faster, but just when he was good enough to get a good aim, Horo-Horo disappeared and then reappeared behind him.

"Surprise." The ice shaman said, with smirk. With quick move he was able to send Yoh to the same wall his back was facing not too long ago.

Yoh struggled to open his eyes. Anna knew that his energy was being drained quickly, considering it was night and his body had already made much effort to stay up the whole day. Horo-Horo walked towards them, slowly and then kneeled down, right in front of them. He grasped Yoh's shirt and brought his face closer, the smirk on lips widening.

"And here I thought you would be strong." He said, with fake disappointment "We may have been friends, if only you weren't such a traitor."

"Yoh is not a traitor." A voice said behind him, and soon his face was kicked to the side by Ren's feet. Yoh's shirt was released as the blue-haired boy flew to the side. "You okay, Yoh?"

` "Yeah." He said, smiling "Thanks Ren."

Ren also smiled.

"No problem."

Horo-Horo stood up and looked at the two boys in front of him. Ren ran forward, ready fighting him with pure martial arts. Horo-Horo was a good shaman, Ren realized while watching them battle, but his physical fighting skills were seriously lacking. It would be easy for the Chinese boy to knock him out using simple moves that even humans know.

He struggled to block. A high kick on the right, then a high punch on towards his face, the Chinese shaman was a tough opponent. Horo-Horo hardly had time to say any spells, considering how fast the attacks were coming.

While Horo-Horo's eyes were occupied with the boy's hands, Ren took the opportunity to kick the boy's legs, making him fall on his back. Before the boy had any chance to react, Ren, just like a cat that just got wet, jumped to the side.

Horo-Horo looked up, only to see Yoh in front of him, his hands stretched towards him. The attack came fast, the ice shaman hardly felt anything before blacking out.

Anna then opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the fight. She walked towards them, calmly at first, then faster as she realized Yoh's body was falling. The blonde girl arrived just in time to catch the shaman's unconscious body and smile at his bravery.

**No, I'm not dead! I know many of you are surprised, but you are stuck with me for a few more years! Sorry it took me so long to write another fanfiction! I really am sorry! It's just that… During the past year I had some personal problems that brought a lot of stress. The reason why I was still updating Silent was because I knew readers were waiting for updates, but if it wasn't for that, I don't think I would have written anything. Finally in August-September things started looking a little better, but my body was still very tired, and it still takes a lot of effort to do simple tasks. ^^" But finally I was able to finish this chapter! Hopefully everyone liked, and again, I am sorry it took me so long. **

**Oh, and please forgive if the writing is a bad or if there lots of spelling mistakes. Because I was taking so long to write something, as soon as I finished the chapter I published, without giving much thought while editing it. But it's going to be a onetime thing! Next chapter will be better, I promise!**

**Also, I want to tell everyone about the contest I want to make for this fic! I will chose the best review of the entire fanfic, and the winner will be able to request any sort of fanfic! I will write specially for the winner, and they may ask for as much as they want (going from "I only want a sweet YoxAnna oneshot" to "I want a multichapter fic where *insert long detail plot line* happens! Also, I want *insert scene* and *insert character* as well as *insert action*"). I'll first chose best review of the chapter and announce it on the next (so I'll announce best review of Chapter 1 at the end of Chapter 2), and then, once the fic is over, I'll chose best reviews out of those!**

**To win best review your review must be:**

**Creative. Not a simple "Liked it! Update soon!" must be creative… This is not a problem, in the past I received many reviews (and death threats) from you guys, so I don't worry about this one. ^^**

**Give a reason why they liked the chapter, and also include something that I need to improve on or something they did not like. I really want to get better at writing, and the best way is having constructive criticism! You guys could really help me by just pointing out mistakes or awkward parts on the fanfic. I want to be better, and you need to help me! Tell me the parts you liked, the parts I need to improve and WHY. Can't win if you don't tell me why. XD**

**Optional: What you think will happen next? Why do you think so? It really is not a requirement, but I always love reading reviews where the readers tell me what they think will happen next. It's always fun to see those who are right and those who are wrong.**

**Optional: Request a scene. This one is also optional, and I may not write the scene you requested it, but it would be nice if it happened, wouldn't it? I have the fic already outlined, but maybe I will be able to squeeze some requested scenes in the chapters if only you ask me to!**

**Thank you for reading! And again, I'm so sorry for not publishing before! Please, review! (You can win a fanfic if you do! =D)**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is an AU fanfic!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shaman King… If I did, it would not nearly be that good of a manga!**

Chapter 2

Horo-Horo opened his eyes slowly; faintly aware of what was going on. Really, at this point the ice shaman didn't care where he was or when he went to sleep; he only wanted that massive headache to stop. Sitting up, he saw that he was on a couch, in a strange room he had never seen before; very traditional, like an old Japanese Inn. That was weird, he didn't remember checking in into any place.

"Oh, you're awake!" he heard a voice say, and turned around to see a brown haired boy, holding a tray with a cup of water and a few pills "I thought you were going to stay out a little longer, but apparently you're stronger than I thought!" the boy smiled, set the tray down and gave him the medicine and the water "Here you go, this will make you feel better. I know it always helps me."

Horo-Horo took it, without saying a word. This boy… He was somewhat familiar.

"What…" he asked, once he had swallowed the pill "What happened?"

"What?" the boy looked surprised "You mean you don't remember?" he frowned "Ah, geez! I didn't think I hit you that hard! I'm sorry!"

"Hit me? What are you…?" but then all the memories started to flow back in. He was walking around the city, when he felt those distinct presences. He ran towards their directions, found his target and was ready to attack when… When another shaman came and defended the two creatures. They fought, and in the end, the boy won. And his name… It was something so stupid like… Oh? Gyou? What was it…?

"Yoh!" a voice called, and both boys turned to see a blonde girl-like creature at the doors, arms crossed and glaring dangerously at Horo-Horo "I told you not to get close to him without supervision! What if he attacked you right now? You can't fight without me, you know it!"

"Relax Anna, Boro-Boro is not a bad guy!" Yoh said, laughing "I'm sure he wouldn't attack me unless he was in danger" he then turned to Horo-Horo, for confirmation "Right?"

"hum…" before he could answer, the girl was by his side, angry.

"Yes, because yesterday definitely proved he will not start fights without a good motive!" Anna said "Remember our bound, Yoh, I can't afford to let you die before your time."

"I know… Calm down." Yoh smiled, relaxed. Horo-Horo could only stare in amazement. How could this boy trust him so much, when just before they were battling each other, one of them ready to kill?

"I don't need to calm down." Anna said, even more annoyed "You need to pay more attention! You should know not everyone is as innocent and naïve as you are!"

"But he sees spirits and…"

"I don't care! You are no normal shaman, so you have to be careful!"

"But Anna…!"

"No 'buts'!"

"She is right Yoh." Horo-Horo finally said, smiling gently "Not everyone is nice like you. Most people would take advantage of your kindness."

Silence ruled the room for a few moments. Yoh blinked, looking stunned, and Anna seemed to calm down a little, seeing the other boy had no hostile intentions… At least for now.

"And how are you feeling?" Yoh asked, now a worry visible in his eyes.

"Better." He nodded, more to himself than to Yoh, as if he needed to reassurance while he answered the boy "I'm better. Although a little confused."

"Confused?" Yoh asked, and then looked at Anna "Anna, I think I hit him too hard! Do you think he has amnesia or something? We have to call a doctor!"

"That's not what I meant!" Horo-Horo yelled, losing his patience with the stupidity of the boy "I mean I am confused as to why you brought me to your home when I clearly tried to kill you!"

Yoh smiled gently, as if the answer to the question was as clear as the blue sky.

"Well, I couldn't just let you die, could I?" he asked, smiling.

"I probably would have." Horo-Horo answered, smiling slightly as well "Thanks man."

"No problem." Yoh smiled and nodded with his head, sitting by his side.

It seemed things were about to end there. Horo-Horo was half glad, for at this moment his head hurt, and all he want is to take the medicine Yoh had brought to him. But Anna broke the silence again:

"So, when are you leaving?"

"Anna!" Yoh yelled, surprise at the rudeness of the blonde. Was she really willing to kick out a man in pain? And how could she ask that so casually?

"What?" She asked annoyed, eyeing Yoh and Horo-Horo "He may have no hostile intentions for now, but he's still a shaman."

"So am I and so is Ren!" Yoh argued back.

"That's different." Anna said "You have a bound with me, so of course you won't attack my kind unless I allow you to. And Ren is your best friend, so he won't do it because it would make you upset." She smirked at that "Guy is more of a softy than he likes to show." The smirk disappeared soon after "But this boy has no reasons why he wouldn't try to kill Redseb and Seyrarm again once he is fully recovered. You know that in our situation we can't trust anyone Yoh."

"But Anna…!"

"Besides…" she added "We can't afford a free-loader here. He won't stay unless he helps cover the bill."

Oh, now it was explained. The main problem wasn't danger or anything, but money… He should have thought so… Leave it to his Anna to try profit from every situation.

"I'm not going to attack again, Anna" Horo-Horo said, ignoring the glare he received by calling her by her first name without permission "I have no chance against you and Yoh. And if the other shaman comes to fight as well, I'll probably end up dead."

"You bet you will." Said another voice.

They all turned to see Ren, standing by the door, arms crossed and a frown that Yoh belived was stuck on his face forever. Behind him stood Redseb and Seyrarm, peering inside the room with fear. They looked like little innocent children, Horo-Horo noticed. Like two normal kids. And right now he could sense that this assumption is not completely wrong.

"Demi-Demons?" the ice shaman asked, arching an eyebrow "I heard of them, but never actually thought they were real!"

"Oh yeah!" Yoh smiled, and looked at Redbseb and Seyrarm, nodding them that it was okay to come in. As soon as the signal was given Redseb ran to Yoh and sat on his lap, smiling deviously, while Seyrarm calmly walked towards Anna, holding her hand "We found them a few years ago, and they had no place to stay, so we decided to let them stay with us!"

Now Ren was close to them, and Horo-Horo found himself surrounded. While most gave him not so friendly stares, he still felt safe. Probably because of Yoh; he knew that the pure hearted shaman would not allow the others to hurt him.

"Shamans with demon bounds… Demi-Demons…" he said, half laughing "Chinese dudes that fight kung-fu… It feels like I ended up in a freak's store house!"

"I guess that would make you one of us, right?" Ren smirked.

"Why you little…!"

"Enough, enough." Yoh said laughing "Come on Boro-Boro, you can't fight in this condition." Then he looked at Ren "It's not nice to provoke our guests."

"It's not nice to call the hosts freaks either." Was the rebuttal. He then looked at Horo-Horo once more "I think we deserve an explanation, at least."

"Explanation?" Yoh blinked.

"I agree." Anna said "Even though he is a shaman and, by definition, his job is to keep balance between humans, angels and demons, he had no right to attack Redseb and Seyrarm, who were doing no harm to any human. Shamans are supposed to be neutral. I think an explanation is more than…"

"Come on!" Horo-Horo yelled, now impatient "Are you really that stupid?"

"Excuse me?" She asked, not sounding one bit polite to Yoh.

"Do you really have no idea why I attacked you _demons?" _He asked, standing up, angry "Are you really that stupid?"

"Boro-Boro…" Yoh tried to calm him down, the worry dominating his features again.

"I believe that term applies to you, _shaman_." Anna answered, as if her companion had not spoken at all, her voice holding the same hostility Horo-Horo's now had.

"Apparently it may also be used to dumb blonde demons!" The ice shaman yelled "It's not possible that you are that oblivious to our world since 8 years ago!"

"Enlighten me, Oh-all-powerful-ice Shaman." She said sarcastically.

"Ever since the war caused by _your_ kind, us Shamans have suffered prejudice!" Well, apparently the blue-haired shaman was more of an idiot than Anna had originally thought if he could no grasp the sarcasm that was lacing her previous words. Of course she knew about the war. _Everyone_ knew about the war; especially _her._ "A shaman's duty is to keep human's safe! Angel Sati created us for that reason only! We don't have sides on _your_ war against the heavens! We only have to make sure the humans don't get caught in the middle! We were protecting them against the attacks of your kind! And you tortured us! You killed us during the war, when we weren't even your enemy! " By now the shaman was close to tears "My sister is dead because of demons like you!"

"Am I supposed to feel sorry?" Anna asked, not even moved. Her companions, on the other hand, looked at Horo-Horo with sympathy. All of them had siblings, and all of them suffered because of the war, one way or another. To lose one so close to you was… Yoh knew it was the worst thing it could happen. "I'm a demon. I hold no sympathy. It's true that your kind is supposed to protect the humans from the ongoing battles between the heavens and the armies of hell. But those battles only exist because we both desire to control this world." She smirked "Casualties are obviously going to happen."

"Anna… " Yoh tried to stop fight in vain.

"That's still no excuse!" Horo-Horo yelled "My sister was only 6 when she was captured and then killed right in front of my eyes!" tears were rolling down his face "Pirika was 6! She barely knew how to use her powers and was forced into war!"

"Boohoo." Anna said "Redseb and Seyrarm were little as well, and they were stoned many times by your kind. Their mother, a demon who had been living on Earth for 200 years, acting more like a shaman than one of her own kind, was killed in front of her young daughter's eyes." As she said that, she pulled Seyrarm closer to her "Their father, a _human_, was also killed by shamans. These two were lucky to escape alive."

Horo-Horo stayed silent.

"And if that isn't enough, now we demons are hunted down without mercy. We may only be wandering around, not doing any harm, yet you shamans do not hesitate in killing us. "She continued "Times are peaceful now in this world, yet demons cannot just go around without worrying about their lives. Shamans were not the only ones who suffered due to the last war. Keep that in mind."

And with that, she left, Seyrarm by her side. Redseb jumped out of Yoh's lap and followed the two demon girls, without saying a word to the three shamans that were left in the room.

Yoh sighed, passing his hands through his hair. So much for avoiding trouble. He looked over to Ren, who still had his frown, and then at Horo-Horo, who was wiping his tears.

Time to pick up the pieces again.

"There, there." Yoh said, smiling and standing up, putting a hand on Horo-Horo's back. "I'm sorry about what happened to your sister. I know how much it hurts to lose your family." He smiled sadly "You should sit down. Your injuries are not fully healed yet."

Horo-Horo only nodded, and allowed his new friend to assist him back to the couch. The Chinese shaman observed all carefully, as if still doubting everything that was happening.

So the ice shaman held grudge against demons because of the war… Well, that much was expected. Even Ren, who lived with a demon, still found hard to trust their kind. Not that anyone could blame him. Spending some part of his childhood locked away in the demon world, being tortured by those three evil demons, and then to come back to a world that hated him for protecting them...! It was the natural thing to do to blame all their problems in the demons.

Oddly enough, Yoh was the only one who didn't do that. He didn't like humans, that much was obvious. The young boy also suffered a lot since he escaped from imprisonment. But it still seemed like he could understand things with a different mind. It was like Yoh did not see people by what their kind was, but by who they were inside. To Yoh, in some weird way, it did not matter if they were Angels, Patchs, Shamans, Humans or Demons, all it mattered was your heart.

That kind of trust would get him killed some day. That was why Ren remained by his side. Yoh saved him and Jun, and now he would do the same for Yoh.

"You know, it is true that shamans suffered a lot." Yoh said, offering the ice shaman another cup of water "I remember how horrible it was. How horrible it still is. The humans blame us for the war. They think we were siding with the demons and that is why they hate us so much now days." Ren nodded, thinking back to his sister. Oh, how he hoped she would be okay living with a human family "But if you pay close attention, we're doing the same things to demons. It's not fair to penalize all of them like this. If we start blaming them for all of our problems, we are no better than those hurting us, don't you agree?" Without waiting for an answer, Yoh stood up, still smiling "You should sleep now, Boro-Boro. When you wake we'll have dinner!"

The two left Horo-Horo alone, and soon he drifted back to sleep.

When he woke up once again, the smell of food invaded his being. His mouth watered… It smelled so good! It's been forever since he last ate something that smelled this good!

Forgetting his manners, the ice shaman ran to the place where the smell came from, finding Anna, Redseb, Seyrarm and Ren sitting down at the table, and Yoh serving dinner.

"Ah! Boro-Boro!" He said, smiling "So you're finally up! I didn't know if I should wake you up or let you sleep so…"

"Is that… food?" Horo-Horo asked.

"This?" Yoh asked, looking at the hot plate in his hands.

"Hot, fresh food?" he asked again.

"Yes, it's food." Ren said irritated "Now close your mouth, you letting droll spill all over the floor I just cleaned!"

Horo-Horo chose to ignore the short tempered boy, and instead settled to listen to his stomach.

"May I…. eat it?" he asked, eyes not leaving the hot plate, the smoke, the smell…

"Sure!" Yoh smiled, and put the serving plate on the table than pointed to an empty chair "Sit! Of course you can eat with us Boro-Boro!"

"It's Horo-Horo!" he corrected, but soon forgot about his mispronounced name and started serving himself, filling his plate with food.

"How disgraceful." Anna said, glaring at her guest with disgust "First you attack us. Then you yell at us. And now you stuff your face with our food. You obviously have no manner."

Horo-Horo had a smart reply, only it was lost due to the mouth full of food.

"Don't worry about it Anna." Yoh laughed "I'll do more if needed!"

"It's not a question of running out of food, Yoh!" Anna yelled annoyed "It's simply a question of good manners and respect towards the host!"

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Anna." Ren said "He has no manners… Or brain for that matter."

"Oh yeah?" Horo-Horo yelled after swallowing his food "But at least I'm stronger than you, pointing hair!"

"At least he admitted to being dumb." Anna murmured as she took a sip of her tea.

"You're not stronger than me!" Ren yelled back "If I'm not mistaking, I defeated you last night!"

"Wrong." The Ice shaman said "Yoh defeated me. You just gave me a few punches and then stepped back like a scared kitty! Couldn't even finish your own fight!"

"You still couldn't defend yourself properly from my attacks, dumbass."

"That's only because I was tired! I was already fighting for some time! If we battle once I'm fully healed, I'll win for sure!"

"Is that a challenge?" Ren asked, smirking.

"You bet it is!" Horo-Horo also smirked, and the two glared at each other, each imagining the other's face as they faced defeat.

"As long as this fight happens outside." Anna said, taking a bite of her food "I don't want any blood in my house."

Yoh laughed at this.

"It sure is nice to see everyone getting along so well." He smiled looking at his friends "You are welcome to stay with us for as long as you like Horo-Horo."

Horo-Horo turned to his now new best friend, eyes shining due to the kindness being presented to him.

"Really Yoh?" He asked, smiling "You are so kind!"

"Not so fast!" And said, standing up now. Redseb smiled at that. He knew what was to come up next. Another sucker to clean the house. Lady Anna sure was smart. "If you want to stay here you will have to pay!"

"Pay?" he asked, his smile falling now "But I have no money!"

"Well, that's a problem." She said, smirking "If you don't pay, you can't stay here."

"B-But…!"

"Anna…" Yoh said, his voice carrying a light warning that was ignored by the blonde demon.

"But if you insist." She said "I guess I could make one exception."

"Here it goes…" Redseb said under his breath, and Ren smirked. Idiot had no brains at all.

"If you want to stay, than work to pay for your room and food. Clean the house and take care of the garden. And it must all be approved by me."

"Done!" Horo-Horo agreed without hesitation, not knowing that he was making a deal with the devil.

Yoh sighed. Well, this was Anna. Might as well go to the kitchen and bring out the dessert.

He was about to do so, when a light knock was heard coming from the front door. Immediately everyone was silent. This was unusual, to say the least. No one ever came to visit their house. The people in the neighborhood knew that shamans lived in the house, and therefore avoided it by all means.

Pailong visited sometimes when Jun lived there with them. But now the two were married and on their honeymoon. And then they would go to China, create a family and…

Who the hell could it be?

Anna looked at Horo-Horo with deep suspicion. Could it be an ally of the blue haired boy? Maybe he wasn't so much of an idiot as they originally thought. Maybe this was all part of his…

No. That was not possible, Anna decided. The boy looked too surprise, and she would simply not accept being outsmarted by such an idiot.

"Anna." Yoh said, now serious "Take care of Redseb and Seyrarm." He stood up, and looked at Ren, who followed his lead. Horo-Horo, quickly catching up, also stood up.

"No need to worry!" said a voice, coming from outside. "I have no intentions of fighting shamans. I only wish to talk to the young man that goes by the name of Asakura Yoh."

They all looked at each other, before Yoh took a few steps towards the door.

"Who are you?" He asked, caution present in his voice.

"I come in peace." The voice answered with a chuckle "Seriously, I'm not a fighter. I just do it if I'm attacked first." When nothing happened, the owner of the voice sighed "I'm serious! If you don't want to, no need to open the door. But talking like this is quite odd, don't you think?"

Yoh looked at Anna for guidance, and soon the demon was on her feet. The two partners walked towards the door together, Anna ready to cast a spell at any moment. Yoh took a deep breath and opened the door.

In front of them stood a tall man, strong, with long black hair. He had a friendly smile on his face, long nose, and seemed quite relaxed. Some feathers stuck out of his hair, and a red hair accessory covering his forehead. But it wasn't the man itself the surprised all the ones in the room.

No, it was the feathers and the paintings on his face. It was the clothing and unique patterns. All of them in the room knew that this could only mean one thing: A Patch had come to visit them.

"Nice to meet you shamans and demons." He greeted, smiling. "My name is Silva."

**Yeah… Cliffhanger. XD I'm so sorry! I took so long to update and then came this crappy chapter with a cliffhanger! So sorry! But this fic is all planned out already. All 18 chapters are planned. XD That's right, 18 chapters! And I plan to use just about most of the Shaman King characters! So if you haven't seen some of the major characters yet, relax that they will appear on the future (except for Pirika. She is dead. Sorry!)**

**Again, I'm sorry for the wait! I was busy with college application and working on my portfolio. As if that wasn't enough my school had major tests during the same time I was sending out my applications and putting my portfolio together. And no thanks to my family, that came with yet ANOTHER major drama, I felt really tired and had no energy to write whatsoever!**

**But I'm back! And I should be able to update every month or so! I promise!**

**And now, to the reviews! (yes, the contest is still on! But the reviews for chapter one will not be qualified)**

**Answering Reviews:**

**Olihime: You are the first reviewer! =DDD You should win a prize or something! Only I have no idea what to give you… Spoilers, if you want? XD I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I hope you liked this one as well! Hopefully you are still interested in what is going to happen next! And I'm also a Yoh fan! He is my favorite character in Shaman King! Thank you for the review!**

**Anonymous25: You have no idea how close you were! No, as you can probably see now, Yoh is not a shaman Vampire. But the original concept for this fanfic was with Yoh and Hao both being vampires. I can't really explain how the idea developed from there without giving a lot of things away, but in a few chapters I'll explain! I'm glad you loved it! And although I did not update soon, I promise my next chapter will come soon.**

**Silverymoon19: I'm glad you love my works! I personally don't like them that much, but I have confidence issues. XD Here is the chapter you wanted to read so badly, but I'm so sorry you had to wait so much! I'm a lousy writer. T_T Bad me! I must be punished! And don't worry, believe it or not, English is not my first language either. XD My first language is Portuguese, but I can kind of understand. It took me years before I had enough courage to actually write in English. But I think your English is amazing! I wouldn't know it isn't your first language if you hadn't said so! I'm really glad you liked Silence and Fence! I never worked so hard in a fanfic before, so I was quite proud of those two! To know you liked them is a nice reward. ^^ I hope you like this one as well! I'm sorry that you had to wait so long again, and maybe you can already get what's the deal between Yoh and Anna. XD**

**TowaNeko: Oh dear God, you got the Kuroshitsuji vibe? XDDD Is it that easy to tell that I was in a Kuroshitsuji craving when I came up with the idea? XD I love Kuroshitsuji! *O* It's so awesome! And to have someone say my fic gives a vibe similar to it… You just made me the happiest person ever! That is such a compliment, you have no idea! Thanks for telling me that, I do tend to repeat myself a lot. u.u I'm trying to stop that, but it is hard to break this habit! Will keep an eye for it! Thanks! And no, I guess now you can see that you are not wrong. XD But their contract is a bit different from Ciel's and Sebastian's. You'll see soon. Hao will appear on this fanfic and (SPOILER) he will be mentioned in the next chapter, but he won't appear himself until much later. XD In fact, his lack of appearance is, in a way, a major plot point. The main reason why this story exists. XD Okay, enough Spoiler, or else I'll give everything away! The reviews possess my computer… THAT EXPLAINS WHY MARCUS WAS BEING SO EVIL WITH ME DURING THE PAST FEW MONTHS! Thanks for the kind review and the kind words! Please, review again! XD I had fun reading yours!**

**Felipe Asakura: My friend, it is very weird to talk to you in English, but since this is written in Enlgish, we shall try. You can never win if you never try, right? =D I think you got some of the answers during this chapter, and as you can see, they are, technically "little devils". XDD Though only half devils! XD I'm sorry, I know you love them! Cliffhangers are my ace in the hole. XD I love them as a writer, hate them as a reader! I hope this fanfic turns out as well as Silent, though I doubt it. It would be putting way too much faith in my work. Silent was a miracle! This one has expectations to live up to! I'm glad you liked the fight scene! There will be more to come, so it's good to know I'm finally able to properly write them! The X-Laws and Hao will appear, but I will not reveal what role they'll play. XD You'll have to read to find out! A Redseb and Seyrarm scene… I think I can work that out soon. ^^ Seems doable! Thanks for the review!**

**Besarki: I love your reviews! I just love them, they make my day! Seriously! No, you are not forgetting anything. I just forgot to say it was an AU. ^^" I'm so sorry! Thanks for pointing it out though! I put the warning right in the beginning of this chapter! Anna in a fancy dress. XD I bet Yoh loved that, right? XD And yes, she is our sadistic Anna! I'm trying to keep her as in character as possible. I'm so glad you think they are all in character! Coming from you this makes me so happy! I think it is only natural for fanfic writers to worry that they are not interpreting the characters well, and my biggest fear is that they all end up with similar dull personalities. But if you say the are somewhat close to Takei's genius character development, than I can die happily! I'm glad this is becoming one of your favorite stories! I hope you won't change your mind as the story develops! NOOOO! THE CROWBAR IS BACK! *hides*And by the way I ended this chapter, I suspect you will be even angrier, right? Oh, I wish I had kidnapped Takei. XD If I did he would be teaching me how to draw and then I would force him to write more and more stories! But sadly, no. T_T Maybe some day *sighs* THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ADDING IT TO YOUR FAVORITES! *hugs* THANK YOU! Believe it or not, with these reviews, I think you have a big chance of winning! And again, thanks for the advise! **

**RavenAK: Ahhhh! *screams and leaps into your arms* YOU REVIEWED! I'M SO HAPPY!*crying tears of joy* Thank you so much! Right now you got the answers you wanted, but, if I did my job successfully, you have even more questions! And what you mean you are not creative? Don't you dare say that! You are one of my idols! Of course you are creative! Your fanfics are enough proof of that! And not only are you creative, but you also write very well! And if you still don't believe me, I show exhibit A: Death Banana. There, you and I came up with that idea, and this should show you how creative you are! Things are okay now, thanks! You have no idea how much it helped talking to you about it! It really took a lot off my shoulders! Thank you so much not only for reviewing but for being a great friend, always being there and helping me with this! Thank you!**

**Elpatolocosisi: Oh yes. XD I always like to start stories by leaving the readers confused. It's fun! XD I'm glad you think Anna is in character! She is such a hard character, don't you think? She is a tsundere, but there is also the melancholy of her past, her deep love for Yoh and everything else… It's hard to put it all together perfectly and not end up exaggerating (putting too much Tsundere, or making her too emotional)… She is one I'm always worried about. Yes, Yoh, Ren, Anna, Jun, Redseb and Seyrarm all lived together. But now Jun is gone, and Horo-Horo kind of joined in with the group. Don't worry, the house situation won't matter much in a few chapter from now. Those are all important points, and I'm glad you picked up on them! They are all things that need to be paid attention to. Yes, there are very big differences between humans, shamans and now demons. And you can see that there was a big war… But I can't tell you much more. Next chapter there will be more answers though! I promise! Hopefully you won't be so confused. If I do everything right (I'm praying that I do) than every single piece will come into place soon! Right now you are suppose to be confused, so don't worry. XD And I'm sorry it took me this long to update! I promise next chapter won't take so long! Thank you for the review!**

**PrincessLazyPants: I'm glad you think it's original. ^^" I was worried it wasn't, since the demon-human plot is used so much (main reason why I wanted to write one… I never had before, I wanted to give it a try!) And you reviewed on Christmas Eve! I'm so glad you reviewed! While I was watching my grandma spill wine all over the table you so kindly sent me a review! Thank you! I'm sorry you had to wait so much!**

**And now, for the best review of the first chapter… The winner is: SilveryMoon19! But everyone still has a chance to win! SO REVIEW! **


End file.
